The present invention relates to a sailing craft having improved hull, rudder, mast, main sail, trampoline deck construction together with other elements. The cooperation of the various components of the sailing craft interact in order to obtain improved operational performance.
Twin hull catamaran sailing crafts of the prior art are generally constructed of a frame work connecting the hulls and a conventional mast supported by the frame work. One or more rudders are provided. A deck is formed on the frame work for the support of the crew members. No high speed performance is provided for in such craft due to the conventional nature of the mast, main sail, and rudder combinations taken together with the shape of the hulls employed. Representative prior patents are: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,712,293 to O'Higgins; 3,796,175 to Ford; 4,002,133 to Wilbanks.
In other sailing craft of a single hull design masts which are flexible in order to establish a bow within the longitudinal plane of the hull have been employed in order to flatten the sails for high aspect sailing into the wind. Masts of this type have not been associated with the air-foil type of masts in which battens have been employed in order to establish variations in the camber of the sail. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,162,441 to Mead and 3,415,215 to Plym show such longitudinally bowed masts.
Another type of sail for single hull craft is represented by the air-foil type of sail in which internal battens are flexed in order to establish variable cambers such as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,821 to Roberts et al (FIGS. 11 and 12) and U.S. Pat. No. 2,561,253 to Wells-Coates which utilizes a leech cable along the trailing edge of the sail in order to flex internal battens. U.S. Pat No. 3,112,725 to Malrose is also of a similar type of sail in which the mast is permitted to rotate. These sails are characterized by their high weight due to the complicated internal components thereof and are not deemed to be acceptable for light weight catamaran sailing crafts.
Single hull vessels have also been fitted with one or more rudders which are designed for the normal pivoting motion as well as for a pivot motion in order to raise the rudders. Representative prior art is shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,259,093 to Taylor; 3,788,257 to Miller.
Other approaches to providing air-foil type of masts require considerable additional structure and mast control lines as shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,841,251 to Larson; and 4,047,493 to Menegus. Yet another approach utilized for a single hull smaller sized craft is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,074,647 to Delaney.
Other prior art not specifically mentioned above are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,149,482 to Hoyt; and 1,613,890 to Herreshoff.